I was wondering if there are any photos out there of George Patton actually wearing his Registered Magnum. I see alot with his Colt SAA, one even of him wearing a Colt .22, but so far none with the Smith & Wesson.

Yes, there are. I don't have any handy but you see them now and then. I don't recall ever seeing one of him wearing just the .357. Normally, the photos show him wearing both the Colt and the RM.

The Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor has the most complete collection of Signal Corps photos of General Patton that I know of, which used to be at Fort Knox. The last time I was there, they had 13 binders of photos, and one could make copies if he had his own equipment with him. I made it through 6 or 7 of the binders in the time I had, and I always intended to go back and finish the job, but haven't made it yet.

The museum had both the Colt and the S&W on display when I was there, but I thought I heard recently that some of his guns had been "given" to West Point. The web still says the Colt is at Fort Knox, so possibly the family has given ownership of the guns to West Point, but they still are located at Fort Knox... ?

I am not even sure the museum (as I saw it) is still at Fort Knox, as I recall reading that it was being moved (possibly to Georgia - ?). But if it is still there, and you want to see the material, you have to write ahead for an appointment/permission. The net still shows the museum as being at Fort Knox, so I am a bit confused. In any case, a phone call would straighten that out. When I called, more than a few years ago now, the curator was very cordial and seemed happy to provide access to the photos, some of which were excellent, probably the result of a photographer that really knew his way around a Speed Graphic.

I am certain that in the past I have seen pictures of him wearing it.
I still have a liveing uncle that said he was assigned a few times to drive General Patton. Uncle art spoke fluent german, dad says they didnt learn english untill they went to school. He was a MP and a dog man. Probley might have been assigned because of that. I know he went through the bulge. Art is about 93 now and lives in wisconsin. I belive I heard he was like the 2nd person drafted in our county or state when the draft came out.

I am certain that in the past I have seen pictures of him wearing it.
I still have a liveing uncle that said he was assigned a few times to drive General Patton. Uncle art spoke fluent german, dad says they didnt learn english untill they went to school. He was a MP and a dog man. Probley might have been assigned because of that. I know he went through the bulge. Art is about 93 now and lives in wisconsin. I belive I heard he was like the 2nd person drafted in our county or state when the draft came out.

Cool ---
When I was growing up my next door neighbor was a tanker under Patton. He'd seen him a couple of times, but mostly NOT.

I was in BCT at Knox when Patton made general - We even cleaned the gravel in our Co area - One rock at a time
Then we got all dressed up and stood in formation as General Patton rode by.
If you ever saw the Mash episode where MacArthur rides by without even looking up you saw exactly what we saw of Patton.
I've always wondered if one of the writers on Mash wasn't there that day

The photos crtainly exist, and I've also seen him wearing a Colt DS and a Remington M-51 .380, also a Colt .380 with stars on the dark wood grips.

I think there's a scene in, "Patton", where Scott, playing Patton, hid a Colt .380 under his coat before buckling on his larger revolvers. I can readily see the real general doing that.

It is interesting that some generals, like Eisenhower and Montgomery, seem not to have worn guns openly. Patton, Field Marshal Alexander, and others did. I think some US generals don't wear them now because they want an executive look, as if pistols are for more common people. And the modern Army seems effete in its view of handguns, almost anti-gun.

I read, "Soldier", the autobiography of Gen. Tommy Franks. He admitted to his wife that he was wearing three concealed guns during a reception at a Muslim leader's palace. But he seems not to have worn openly. Maybe they figure that they shouldn't wear a gun, lest it look like they might need one. ??

Has anyone seen a photo of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel wearing a gun? I haven't.

Maybe 10 years ago we had a Patton day at our National Gun Day show in Louisville. Somehow they managed to borrow his hand guns and a tank, along with a good number of photos. The first day you couldn't get near the displays but by Sunday it was easy. We got to see the RM, the Colt and some other, lesser guns. Lots of photos as I remember.

As usual, I was more interested in the guns for sale. Or the ones I was trying to sell.

In the book "Fired in Anger" the author quotes Patton as saying the .357 was his "killing gun" though there is no evidence he ever fired it at anybody. The Colt 380 was the "official" issue to general officers in WWII. Patton wore his Colt SAA on his right, if he ever wore the .357 it would have been on his left. There is a picture of patton in his tanker's uniform with a Colt Woodsman in his holster. Patton was a "character", probably should have lived during the Civil War, and yes, Today's Army is a rather effete organization, the firearms enthusiast is seen as a "nut".

I visited the West Point museum in June; didn't see any Patton guns, and I think I would have noticed them if they had been there. Did see a pistol once the property of Adolf Hitler, and a S&W M&P that Goering was wearing when he surrendered. Also saw a rather nondescript airborne jump suit, with 82d insignia on the arm, with the name tape "Gavin", given by General Gavin.

I am currently reading a book on George S. Patton and I do believe in it there is a photo of him wearing this Revolver. The photo is B&W and not particularly good quality, so it would not be worth scanning. There are descent photos around - do a Google search.

By the way, the book is very long but is very well written. I never realized he was so closely associated with Black Jack Pershing. Guess it did not hurt him rising through the ranks.

I just looked at the book photo again and it is the Colt SAA revolver he is wearing. There is another photo in the same book, but the guns stocks are hidden under his arm so I do not know if it is a Colt SAA or the S&W R/M.

I visited the West Point museum in June; didn't see any Patton guns, and I think I would have noticed them if they had been there. Did see a pistol once the property of Adolf Hitler, and a S&W M&P that Goering was wearing when he surrendered. Also saw a rather nondescript airborne jump suit, with 82d insignia on the arm, with the name tape "Gavin", given by General Gavin.

I was stationed at the USMA West Point in the 50th Engineers in the Fall of 1968 and Pattons guns were displayed in the museum there at that time.

Has anyone seen a photo of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel wearing a gun? I haven't.

Yes, many of them. In fact, Rommel seemed to typically keep two handguns close by, which I presume were worn according to his uniform (field or dress). The few written references to them are vague. One was almost certainly a Luger or P38, most likely a Luger (judging from the shape of the holster). The other is usually referred to as "a smaller one," or an "8-millimeter." (That 8mm stuff may or may not have any basis in fact.) A guess would be that the other pistol was very likely a 7.65mm PP or PPK.

There is a story of Rommel using a handgun to kill game in the North African desert. Rather unsporting, unfortunately. It said he and his staff would drive along beside the fleeing animal and shoot at it until it succumbed. War is a messy business, even for critters not involved in the process.

I have read that Rommel had both of his handguns in his home the day the assassins came to poison him. His aid was also present and had a rifle and a few cartridges. It is said they discussed resisting, but the FM declined because he was certain it would result in the death of his wife and son.

So there are many written references - and pictures of him wearing pistols, but none of the detailed info as there is surrounding General Patton's firearms. And I have never seen any indications that Rommel was an enthusiastic handgun marksman, which General Patton indisputably was.

EQ Guy; I spent a weekend at West Point as an ROTC cadet in 1955; as I remember it, his guns were also on display at that time, but they aren't now. I wonder if they were sent to the Armored Museum at Ft Knox.

Just recently, and from time to time over the years, I have seen someone, usually selling something, refering to "old pearl handles" and hustling a "tribute" glitzed up 1911 as if it had some connection to the Patton legacy, and then saying something like, "yeah, here's one for you history buffs." Right, he was a Cavalryman, carried revolvers from when the cav actually rode horses, and had ivory grips on them, stating that pearl handles were "for pimps."

On George C. Scott-I think he did a fine job in the movie, but right before my bunch took off from Ft. Lewis to go to Nam, they hearded us into a room, and showed us the "patton speech scene" from the movie. While quite well done by scott, I thought that if they were going to send us off with a "movie" that it would have been of someone "real." But then, there weren't that many of those available, evidently.

Regarding the gentleman who learned english after comming to America: I worked with a man back in the early 70's, who worked for Omar Bradley doing behind the lines stuff in WWII because he spoke perfect German, looked like a German, and was in fact, a German. He said that when his family got off the boat from Germany, he was 9 years old, and when they got into a cab at the docs, the cab driver, who was African American, turned to ask his dad in the back seat where he wanted to go. Felix said he was so startled he soiled himself. He had never seen a black person, nor even knew that black people existed. Culture Shock. Flapjack.

so would Patton have to buy his own ammo for the 357 and 45 Colt? maybe somewhere there might have been some 45 Colt ammo in the supply chain although it probably would have been old. however I wouldn't think that there would have been 357 ammo in the supply chain.

I would think that a box or two of each caliber would have seen him thru the war. A General would have no problem getting what ever caliber he might want. It is my understanding that when he requested a Remington 380 Model 51 that the company made one up out of parts at the factory for him, so I doubt that getting ammo was any problem.

so would Patton have to buy his own ammo for the 357 and 45 Colt? maybe somewhere there might have been some 45 Colt ammo in the supply chain although it probably would have been old. however I wouldn't think that there would have been 357 ammo in the supply chain.

just curious

Maybe when he was working his way from Lt to Col, but Patton was like Thee Rock Star of the 40s
I doubt that he had to actually buy anything.... Just mention

In late 1943 Major General Kenyon A. Joyce visited Patton at his headquarters in Sicily. He saw that Patton was wearing a revolver and suggested he should have an automatic pistol. Joyce tried to get his brother-in-law to obtain a Remington 51 and send it to him to give to Patton, but apparently the brother-in-law was unable to locate one. So when Joyce returned to the U.S. he contacted Roy C. Swan of Remington to see if he could obtain one. Swan located a used one in Denver and had it refurbished at the Remington Factory. The gun was engraved “To George Patton / From his shooting partner of many years / Kenyon Joyce.”

Patton had the standard grips replaced with wooden ones with three ivory stars inset. There are a number of photographs of him wearing the Remington: the three stars stand out clearly in old black and white photographs. When he was promoted in 1945 Patton had new four-star grips made. This is the gun he wore for the rest of the war, as well as after he returned to the States.

I went to the Fort Knox Patton museum of armor in the late 70's, Possibly even 1980. toured the tanks outside and went inside. They had his uniform jacket on display on a headless upper torso mannequin with his pistol belt around the waist. If I remember right the guns were in the holsters. There was a card which described the guns.

Well here is my long awaited reply. I only wish I had the photographic skills of my board friends. Here is registration number 505, consecutive to General Patton’s. The gun is pictured exactly as purchased several years ago. Missing 95% of its bluing, it resides in a thin layer of Brownell’s RP-2 to protect it from rust. I was treated to some communications with Roy at the time as to a possible refinish. He held neutral on the issue but I sensed he felt the old warrior should be left as is; that’s what I did anyway. Its ironic that the diamond grips are pristine, I’d have to imagine the previous owner replaced the originals. The final paragraph of Roy’s letter with the Patton reference is also attached. As a side note, I can still remember being a young boy growing up in the Chicago area going to Von Lengerke & Antoine with my father; the shipping destination for my RM. It was a store that created wide-eyed amazement in me with sporting goods from African safari gear to polo uniforms with everything in between and a very large firearms department. Legend has it that Al Capone had shopped there but who knows. Again my apologies for the images but hopefully you will get some reasonable representation. Ed

The Lounge Thread, Photos of George Patton wearing Registered Magnum in General Topics; I was wondering if there are any photos out there of George Patton actually wearing his Registered Magnum. I see ...